Changing Lives

Making an Impact

Local High School Student Makes a Difference in Children's Lives

 

Study Abroad

Global Learning

Students Take Advantage of Opportunities to Study Abroad

“The listening begins on the plane as we each insert our ear buds and we create individual listening worlds within a collective travel experience. As we cram our bodies and bags into small, shared spaces we find comfort through what hear; headphones allow us to choose what we listen to and attempt to drown out unwanted sound, for example, babies crying, a neighbor snoring uncomfortably close, inane conversations between those who know each other too well or those who've just met and are trying a bit too hard. Yet what listening experience are we truly engaging in? Do these little worlds close us in or shut everything else out? I found for me it actually allowed for a more singular focus offsetting the awkwardness of mass transit. I don't know if this is true for all, but I finished the ride with copious, reflective notes that energized me as I prepare to immerse myself in the musical adventures of Berlin.” –Ken Parsons, Chair of Religious Studies & Philosophy.

Dr. Parsons teaches a variety of courses in the areas of Ethics, Political Philosophy, and the History of Philosophy. His research in Political Philosophy and Contemporary European Philosophy orients around issues of violence and power, globalization, and social justice. This fall, Dr. Parsons lead a group of students on an adventure to the culturally-rich lands of Berlin as part of the IS/PL 344 course, Music and Politics. The trip lasted from October 16^th-23^rd.  

On their first night in Berlin, the group decided to dine at the Unsicht-Bar, a unique restraint where customers dine in total darkness. “Our servers were all blind, thus expertly equipped to add us through the experience of navigating the world of forks, glasses and conversation in total darkness, for 2+ hours,” said Parsons. Because the class is focused on music and sound, Dr. Parsons and the class thought this dining experience would be a good way to refocus their senses. “This proved to be an ideal environment for attuning to our surroundings and one another in ways we all agreed was fresh and excitingly ‘eye-opening’ for our ears,” said Parsons.

Don’t be disappointed if you missed out on the trip to Berlin, for anyone interested there are also four travel courses offered this spring! For 2013 there are opportunities to visit Montreal, Canada, Rwanda, Africa, India, and the Bahamas. Space is still available but the classes are filling up fast so pick up a registration form in the registration office. For more information on upcoming travel courses, visit avila.edu/travel.    

 

Getting to Know Gabby

Getting to Know Gabby

Avila Ambassadors Welcome a New Addition to the Team

 

            This semester Avila Ambassadors welcome their newest member, Gabby Sysavath, to the organization. Sysavath is a sophomore this fall, majoring in Pre-Med with a minor in psychology. In her future, Sysavath hopes to become a pediatric neurologist. But for now she just wants to be involved in as many aspects of Avila as possible. Sysavath was first interested in joining the ambassadors before she was even enrolled.

            “Bailey Carr was actually my ambassador when I came for a tour, she was just so peppy and upbeat, she really sold the school to me,” said Sysavath.

            Carr spends much of her time in the admissions office, when she isn’t giving tours herself she is training new ambassadors on how to sell Avila. Before giving any tours to potential students, ambassadors must go through a series of practice tours with Carr. One way that the practice tours work is that Carr acts as the tour guide so that ambassadors can observe and model her techniques. Another use of the practice tours is for ambassadors to show Carr they are ready to give a tour on their own. The ambassador will have a fake group of visiting students and they are to go through the motions as if they were selling Avila to a new group of potential students.

  Another ambassador, Jessica Jankowski, was also a key player in getting Sysavath to join.  

            “Jessica always told me how cool it was to be able to interact with possible new students and how fun it is to meet new people,” Sysavath said. 

            Sysavath joined the ambassadors as a way to get more involved at Avila and to be a part of persuading students to come to the University. In addition to participating as an ambassador, Sysavath is a part of the Avila Cheer Squad and a member of the Bio-Med club.

            “I don’t have a job right now but I’m kind of looking, it’s hard to work when it conflicts so much with the things I’m involved with at school,” said Sysavath.    

            Although she is very busy, Sysavath is happy to be involved with Avila University. She has learned many things just from the short time she has been involved that she otherwise would have never known.

            “I thought it was funny that before the Eagles we were actually the Avalanche, I’ve learned a lot of interesting things about the school from becoming an ambassador,” said Sysavath.  

            For those students looking to get involved, Avila has a wide variety of clubs and organizations that are always looking to acquire new members. From academics to athletics, and many special interest groups in between, there is always something to do at Avila University.

Parking Wars

Parking Wars

Lack of Parking Spaces on Campus Causes Uproar between

Students and Campus Safety

            Many are familiar with the hit A&E show “Parking Wars,” where independent towing companies in big cities like New York face off against illegal parkers. In the show, fugitive parkers go to extremes to keep their cars from being towed and plead their cases to the imperturbable Judge Caprio. Well, Avila students may not have quite reached these extremes yet, but there has undoubtedly been an increase of frustration when it comes to parking on campus this semester.    

According to the Campus Safety department, in the parking lots surrounding campus there are 250 designated spaces for residents, 40 for employees, and 25 for disabled or handicapped. The remaining 500 undesignated spaces are open for commuters, visitors, and future Avila students. There are approximately 1800 students currently enrolled, this number excludes employees and visitors, and only a total of 815 parking spaces. With these numbers, parking at Avila is like a never ending game of musical chairs, someone is always left without a place to park.

“We are working on designating a number of parking spaces for resident students equal to the number of parking permits issued by the Campus Safety office and ask that resident students park only in resident parking spaces as instructed,” said Chris Roberts, manager of Campus Safety.

For those students residing in Carondelet, the best parking is in front of the third floor of Avila Hall or the drive to the north down the hill. Students in Ridgway are asked to park in the lot between Ridgway and Thompson. Next to Carondelet there will be spaces for commuter students and employees, although the majority of that parking is in the large lot north of Blasco and the lots along the west half of campus.

In the past few years, many commuters found a resolution to the lack of spaces by parking along Oak Street hill behind Dallavis Center. This proved to be a solution up until the city of Kansas began ticketing those cars with no prior warning to tell students it was a no-parking zone. Now, there are clear no-parking signs along the Oak Street hill to deter students from congesting the street. Commuters are now asked to park along the residential streets surrounding campus when no spaces are available in the Blasco lot.

“Avila also is fortunate in this large metro area to have three sides of campus surrounded by peaceful residential streets. It’s no different than parking in any residential or business area, such as the Country Club Plaza or downtown Kansas City. People need to use due diligence and care anytime they park on a public street,” said Roberts.

For being less than half way through the semester, the mere number of parking violations is proof that there is a problem. Many of the violations were due to students simply not having a parking permit at all. The majority of the others were for cars parked in places that were not parking spaces. Failure to park inside the spaces causes obstruction of traffic and can prevent the entrance of emergency vehicles.

“By everybody having a parking permit in a similar location, this aids Campus Safety’s ability to identify vehicles quickly and be able to quickly spot vehicles of strangers or visitors. This allows Campus Safety to be more vigilant in detecting possible security concerns,” said Roberts.

Students, faculty, and staff are asked to aide Campus Safety in maintaining Avila’s reputation as a safe place to be. Everyone is encouraged to do their part by following the parking policy which allows smooth traffic flow on and around campus. For Avila’s full parking policy, refer to the student handbook at www.avila.edu.